Softwr

Backup · head to head

Unitrends Backup vs UrBackup

Unitrends Backup logo

Unitrends Backup

Backup

All-in-one backup and recovery appliance

From
$55/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
UrBackup logo

UrBackup

Backup

Open source client server backup doing both file and whole disk image backups of Windows machines

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only UrBackup has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Unitrends Backup pricing is not transparent and requires contacting the company directly for a custom quote; UrBackup backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.
  • They diverge on capability: Unitrends Backup covers Predictive analytics, UrBackup covers Windows image backups.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Unitrends Backup and UrBackup actually diverge.

Attributes where Unitrends Backup and UrBackup differ
AttributeUnitrends BackupUrBackup
Starting price$55/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsOn-premises, Cloud, HybridLinux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD
Founded1989Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Backup).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Unitrends Backup

  • Predictive analytics
  • Automated recovery testing
  • Instant recovery
  • Ransomware detection
  • Adaptive deduplication
  • Cloud integration
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V

Only in UrBackup

  • Windows image backups
  • File backups
  • Web interface
  • Client discovery
  • Internet mode
  • Filesystem deduplication

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Unitrends Backup

  • Data protectionnot UrBackup
  • Disaster recoverynot UrBackup
  • Business continuitynot UrBackup
  • Ransomware protectionnot UrBackup
  • Compliancenot UrBackup

UrBackup

  • A small office with Windows workstations that needs bare metal restore without per seat licensingnot Unitrends Backup
  • Schools and labs where machines are re-imaged often and a known good image must be recoverablenot Unitrends Backup
  • Backing up a mixed fleet to one server on premises with a web interface non specialists can usenot Unitrends Backup
  • Replacing an expiring commercial endpoint backup licence where the budget is the constraintnot Unitrends Backup

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Unitrends Backup

  • Pricing is not transparent and requires contacting the company directly for a custom quote
  • Minimum pricing starts at approximately $995, limiting accessibility for very small deployments
  • Unified pricing approach means less flexibility for scaling individual components

UrBackup

  • Backups are stored on the server without encryption at rest by default, so the backup server holds a readable copy of every machine it protects and becomes the highest value target on the network.
  • Deduplication relies on filesystem features such as hard links, btrfs or ZFS, so a server built on the wrong filesystem silently consumes far more space and the fix is a rebuild rather than a setting.
  • There is no native object storage target, so offsite copies mean replicating the server storage with another tool rather than backing up to a bucket directly.
  • Restoring a full Windows image requires booting a restore environment, which is a manual, on site procedure that needs to be rehearsed before the day it is needed.
  • A single server holds everything and there is no built in clustering, so its own failure removes every recovery point at once unless you have separately solved replication.

Pricing, plan by plan

Unitrends Backup

$55/month
  • Recovery Series$55/month
    • Predictive analytics
    • Instant recovery
    • Ransomware detection

UrBackup

Free
  • UrBackupFree
    • Full functionality, unlimited clients
    • File and image backups
    • Web administration interface

Which should you pick?

Choose Unitrends Backup if

  • You need predictive analytics.
  • You work on On-premises, Cloud, Hybrid.
  • You also want automated recovery testing.
Unitrends Backup review

Choose UrBackup if

  • You need windows image backups.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.
  • You also want file backups.
UrBackup review

Questions people ask

Is Unitrends Backup or UrBackup better?
Neither clearly leads. Unitrends Backup starts at $55/month and UrBackup at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Unitrends Backup or UrBackup?
UrBackup has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $55/month for Unitrends Backup and Free for UrBackup.
Does Unitrends Backup or UrBackup run on more platforms?
Unitrends Backup runs on On-premises, Cloud, Hybrid. UrBackup runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD.
Can I use UrBackup for free?
Yes. UrBackup has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Unitrends Backup starts at $55/month.
What is Unitrends Backup best used for?
Unitrends Backup is most often used for data protection, disaster recovery, business continuity, ransomware protection. Of those, data protection and disaster recovery are not what UrBackup is typically brought in for.
What can Unitrends Backup do that UrBackup cannot?
Unitrends Backup covers Predictive analytics, Automated recovery testing, Instant recovery, Ransomware detection. UrBackup covers Windows image backups, File backups, Web interface, Client discovery.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Unitrends Backup: What does Unitrends Backup include in its pricing?

Unitrends offers all-in-one backup and disaster recovery with a single flat rate including installation, storage, VIP support, and recoveries, plus two DR tests per year and a 5-year warranty.

Source
UrBackup: Does it back up Linux servers as well?

File backups yes, image backups no. The image path is Windows only through volume shadow copy.

Unitrends Backup: What are Unitrends' key disaster recovery features?

Unitrends provides instant recovery, automated recovery assurance, automatic testing capabilities to measure recovery time and points, ransomware protection with behavioral analysis, and bare metal recovery to dissimilar hardware.

Source
UrBackup: Is the data encrypted?

Transport can be encrypted, and there is optional client side file encryption, but the default server storage is not encrypted at rest. Use full disk encryption on the server.

Unitrends Backup: How long has Unitrends been in the backup market?

Unitrends was founded in 1989 and has over three decades of experience in backup and disaster recovery solutions, pioneering the first hardware-based backup appliance in 2002.

Source
UrBackup: Can I back up to Amazon S3?

Not directly. The server writes to local or mounted storage, so cloud copies are made by replicating that storage separately.

UrBackup: How many clients can one server handle?

Dozens is routine on decent hardware. The limit is usually storage input and output during overlapping backup windows rather than client count.

Share

Related pages

More on Unitrends Backup

More on UrBackup

Keep looking

Other head to heads